San Francisco vindicator., 1887-05-02
CHINESE DocToRs IN AMERICA
'sThe Golden Mirror of HTedicine"-Di
agnosis and Treatment.

THE Golden mirror OF Meulc1ne' '-Df-
agnosis and Treatment.
Many of the Chinese stores in our Amer
ican cities keep supply of Chinese drugs
and all of them sell Chinese proprietary
medicines, such as pills to aid digestion,
the 'sred pills." Sha hi un for cholera,
catarrh snuff and other specifics COM
pounded in the Canton drug shops. These
are always neatly packed and labeled, and
accompanied with printed directions for
their use.
The doctors, called shang, of whom
there are now four in Philadelphia, are
usually from the Sam Yap, or "Three
DISTRICTS Immediately adjacent to Cam
ton city They are much better educated
than the mass of the people. None of any
repute at home come to America, but it is
said there are several very skilled ones in
San Francisco and some of the western
cities who have a large practice among
Americans. Those in New York and
Philadelphia rank very low in their pro-
fession in the estimation of their country
men. They are all dignified with the title
of sin shang, equivalent to master or
teacher, the only title of respect current
among the Chinese in the American cities,
and shared with the men who manage the
drawings or the lOtLer1eS.
A slight knowledge of medicine is gen
eral among the people. They have been
accustomed to take medicines from their
childhood, when their mothers, by kind
of sortilege, selected some simple prescrip-
ton to relieve their infantile complaints.
The study of the physicians art is not con-
fined to their doctors. Many others buy
and read works on the subject that are
sold in their stores, in which very exact
directions are given for the treatment of
all the diseases known to them.
The book generally referred to is the
sETsang e kan kam," or "The Golden
Mirror of Medicine, /" a collection of medical
works compiled by order of the Emperor
Kienlung in 1740 The Canton reprint
sold here is contained in forty small octave
volumes, the first thirty of which are de-
voted to nui fo, or internal medicine, y
while the remaining ten comprise the kan
kan ngoi TO, or Golden Mirror of EXter-
nal Practice" by 'Ng Him. The price
of the complete set here is about $2.25.
While the Chinese in our eastern cities
are superstitious, anil cherish many of
their native beliefs, they do not worship
any particular god of medicine, and the
practice of medicine among them is CON-
paraIlVely Tree from SuperStlllOuS ODSeF-
vances Sick people sometimes burn
copies of the charms found in the popular
works on divination and magic, and drink
tea made from the ashes, but this is done
with very little serious belief in the eff
cacy Of such treatment.
In cases of prolonged Illness friend of
the sick person is sometimes sent to the
local shrine of Kwan tai, the divinity
generally worshiped, to burn incense and
ask the wiz of heaven as to his recovery
by throwing the divining sticks.
Diseases which do not succumb to
the treatment after being correctly
diagnosed and the right medicine admin
istered are looked upon as due to the in
duence of a spirit or devil. Hysteria is
generally regarded as an evidence of
demoniac possession.
The doctors show much solicitude about
administering any medicine that may
cause fatal result, owing, no doubt, to
the penalties inflicted in China upon such
misadventures so that their treatment in
general, if not beneficial, does no particu-
lar harm to their patients. Medical and
Surgical Reporter.